It’s official: the RTX 5050 is coming in late July. While it’s not a revolution, it’s an interesting option for those building a budget-friendly Sim Racing rig without giving up on modern features like DLSS 4 or ray reconstruction.
- 2560 CUDA cores
- 8 GB GDDR6 (not GDDR7 on desktop) with 128-bit bus
- 4th-gen RT cores and 5th-gen Tensor cores
Starting at €249, it opens the door to solid, modern builds. It might not handle triple screen setups with ray tracing, but it can hold its own in 1080p or even 1440p with some tuning. Ideal for getting into Sim Racing without breaking the bank.
Intel Still in the Repair Bay: 2024 Has Been Rough
Not everything’s running smoothly in the tech paddock. Intel has had a brutal year:
- 20A node canceled
- Physical issues in 13th and 14th gen CPUs
- Stock crash and a 20% workforce cut
Pat Gelsinger, the former CEO and supposed savior, finally broke his silence, admitting that he wasn’t allowed to finish what he started, especially his Intel Foundry project, which aimed to open Intel’s fabs to clients like AMD or NVIDIA.
This matters in Sim Racing: Intel is falling behind in performance per watt and latency—two key pillars in sim environments.
Ryzen 10.000 and New X3D CPUs: AMD Hits the Gas
AMD is not lifting. The upcoming Ryzen 9600X3D and 9700F boast 96MB of L3 cache, Zen 5 architecture, and 6 and 8-core configurations—perfect for gaming where frequency and cache dominate.
Looking ahead to 2026, Intel’s “Nova Lake” chips will try to compete using a new cache design called BLLC (Big Last Level Cache). But cache access speed matters, and AMD leads here with Infinity Fabric and point-to-point interconnects.
In Sim Racing, where frametime is critical, more and faster cache access means fewer stutters, more stability, and smoother races.
uDNA: AMD’s Unified Architecture That Could Change It All
AMD is preparing to merge its gaming (RDNA) and professional (CDNA) lines into one: uDNA. Why? To:
- Cut development costs
- Improve AI and ray tracing
- Get ready for the next-gen consoles
Early data shows:
- +20% rasterization performance
- 2x improvement in ray tracing efficiency
For Sim Racers using ray tracing in games like ACC or modded iRacing, this means better visuals without killing FPS. The frame time reduction can push 50 FPS to over 60 FPS—not a double, but a serious improvement.
RTX 5090 and the “Lite” Version Coming in August
The queen of GPUs, RTX 5090, is no longer a rumor. While the full version hovers above €3,000, its trimmed-down sibling with 24 GB VRAM and clocks close to 3 GHz is landing in August (China first).
With GPU prices finally cooling off, the RTX 5070 and 5080 may bring a better price-performance ratio. Perfect for 4K, VR, or ultra-wide Sim Racing rigs.
The DLSS 4 released with RTX 5000 isn’t just a version bump—it’s a full shift to transformer-based AI models. This allows:
- Higher image quality
- Lower VRAM usage
- Up to 3 AI-generated frames per real frame
In real terms: even the most chaotic, rainy, packed race starts will look smoother, with higher frame rates and less input lag.
What Sim Racers Should Watch Out For
Summer is a perfect time for review and upgrades. With everything on the horizon:
- RTX 5050 is a great entry point for modern Sim Racing
- DLSS 4 and ray reconstruction promise smoother visuals
- AMD still leads in price-performance, especially with X3D chips
- Intel’s comeback is in progress, but not quite at the finish line
So if you’re considering an upgrade, building your first sim rig, or just love staying informed… July is shifting up. And we’ll be here, trackside, bringing you the latest.
Here is our selection of GPU’s for this month.
- Gigabyte RTX 5070 Ti
- Gigabyte RTX 5080
- PNY RTX 5090
- MSI RTX 5060 Ti
- Gigabyte AMD 9070 XT
- Gigabyte RTX 5070
See you on the track!
This website uses affiliate links which may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.
